Breathless
by Sakuya Izayoi
Summary: His eyes, his smile, his presense…they all could leave her breathless. NaruSaku-centric with minor NejiHina.
1. Breathless

**~Breathless~**

_I do not own the series "Naruto"._

_His eyes, his smile, his presense…they all could leave her breathless. NaruSaku-centric with minor NejiHina._

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Sweat glistened off her forehead. Sakura's face held a dark red color giving her the appearance of a blushing rose. Sakura got out of her fighting stance to look over to her silver haired sensei.

"Sensei, can we take a break?" Sakura was surprised on how squeaky her voice came out. Kakashi chuckled in response.

"Fine by me." He said cooley. Although it was obvious he was dancing inside. Kakashi was trying so hard not to look exciting but it was seeping through his exterior. Why you ask? He was 3 pages away to the last chapter of his '_Make-out Paradise' _book. Naruto ran over to the heavily panting Sakura with his award winning smile plastered on his face.

"Good work Sakura-chan!" Naruto congratulated the rosette haired girl and rested his hand on her shoulder. Sakura felt her entire face grow hot again as she gently touched her cheek. She looked down at her feet to hide her flushed face.

"Thanks." She softly murmured. Ever since the day Sasuke left the team, even though she poured her heart to him, she slowly lost interest in him and saw Naruto in a completely different light. He had changed, he wasn't the goofy little kid she knew three years ago. He was a man, the man Sakura wanted.

"Hey wanna get some ramen to celebrate?" Naruto asked, shattering her thoughts. Sakura could feel her heart skip a beat. The heat continued to spread across her face.

"Uh….sure Naruto-kun." She replied cracking a smile. Naruto didn't seem to notice how flush she was as they both got cleaned up, ready for their date. Naruto led her to a small restaurant. It had a homey feel to it, a warm fire was in the back of the room and it had the cabin appeal to it. As soon as they walked in delicious aromas of various foods washed over them. They walked over to a small, circular, mahogany table in the center of the room. Sakura took the seat closest to the window as Naruto sat across from her. He smiled at her, his crystal blue eyes twinkling with admiration and slight desire. Sakura smiled back with the most beautiful smile he ever seen her with. The beauty of her strong yet fragile face stunned him. When their eyes met it felt like time had froze. The moment was perfect. Naruto realized this and he thought it was his opportunity to tell her how he felt. _'But why tell her, when I can show her.' _He thought. Naruto leaned his face closer to hers. Their lips almost met when the waitress came. She had long, bronze hair and golden cat eyes.

"Hello my name is Alice and I will be your server today. What would you like to order?" She asked in a fakely polite voice. It was obvious she didn't want to be there. It was also obvious that an annoyed Naruto didn't want her there either. Sakura gave Alice an irritated look and quickly scanned her menu.

"Um..I will have the *Nikujaga.". As she ordered she never once withdrew her sight from Naruto. Alice looked over towards Naruto, signaling that it was his turn.

"I'll have the ramen!" Naruto grinned not even bothering to glance at the menu.

"How original." Alice commented scribbling down their orders and walking away.

"Someone has a stick up their ass." Naruto joked. Sakura giggled at his humorous but slightly rude comment. She was laughing so hard that she snorted. A tinge of pink appeared on her face. Naruto bursted into laughter. People around them looked over at their table in disgust but decided to ignore the loud couple.

"Oh shut up baka!" Sakura said while punching his arm playfully and not as aggressively as she normally would.

"Naruto?". A familiar voice asked. Naruto and Sakura turned around to see the face.

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So it's the first chapter. Yay!! XD Sorry if it's a bit short, think of this as a introduction to the real deal later on. I cut it off at that weird point to leave you with many questions. Like; who is the mystery person? Will Naruto and Sakura ever be alone? Will Charles always take the lead?. Find out the answer to 2/3 of those questions in the next chapter of _"Breathless"_! Remember to review please!

FYI: *Nikujaga = A dish with meat and potatoes.


	2. On the Outside

**Breathless - Chapter 2**

_Remember I own nothing!!_

Quick A/N - I apologize for not updating this sooner. Things just kept popping up and I kept putting this aside. Sorry!! ^^;; To make it up to you guys two fresh-out-of-the-oven chapters! Enjoy!

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The face was that of Rock Lee's. He grinned broadly at the pair.

"Oooh on a date with Sakura-chan, I see." He chuckled. Naruto lowered his eyes and glared at him.

"Am not!" Naruto protested. Lee seemed quite amused.

"Are too!" He replied, with a half smile. Naruto stood up and aimed his fist at Lee's face, but he sidestepped, and dodged it, just in the nick of time.

"Naruto and Sakura sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes--" Rock Lee began to sing, but was cut off by the return of Alice.

"You're bill." She told them flatly, as she slammed a piece of paper on the table.

"Bitch." Sakura softly muttured. Lee smirked at Alice coyly.

"Why hello there." He said, running his fingers through his jet black hair. Alice rolled her eyes, and walked away.

"Come on baby don't be like that!" Lee called, and ran after her. Naruto decided to look over the bill.

"Hmm....*2000 yen...I guess that isn't _that_ bad....". He placed the money on the table and began to head to the exit slowly, expecting Sakura to follow suit, which she did.

"Umm...Naruto, we haven't eaten yet..." Sakura stated softly. Naruto flushed a shade lighter than her hair, and let her lead him back to their table. After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity (which was actually 11 minutes) their food arrived and was placed on the table (but not by Alice). Naruto broke his chopsticks and dug into his food like he hadn't eaten in days. Ramen noodles were thrown everywhere. Instead of getting angry about it, Sakura smiled and said,

"I like your appetite." Naruto looked up from his bowl, and into her jade green eyes.

"Are you being sarcastic?" He directed. Sakura laughed.

"Uh DUH!!". She politely broke her own chopsticks and started eating. Naruto pouted cutely and mummbled, 'Meanie'.

* * *

_'To think it would end up like this....' _Neji thought to himself as he gazed out the window of the '_Hyuuga Mansion'. _The sky outside looked like a painting, vivid reds, oranges, pinks, and purples were spread across; white clouds were dotted all over, it seemed so peaceful. Not awhile ago, outside, the two cousins had trained together. Neji had discovered something he thought to be untrue, but confirmed it was. He had fallen, _hard, _for his cousin.

_(1 hour earlier)_

"Come on Hinata-sama, you can do better than that!" Neji shouted, purposely angering his superior to, hopefully, get her to hit that much harder, that much faster, that much _better_. Hinata was panting heavily as her lavendar eyes were fixed solely on him.

"I'm trying Nii-san! Can we....please..take a break?" Hinata uttered softly and out of breath. Neji had to admit, her long azure hair, messy and drenched, her face a dark red, with beads of sweat glistened off it, thats when she was her prettiest. When she looked so vulnerable, so imperfect. Who was he to ruin that? To ruin the only time he got to spend time with her, to see a completely different side of Hinata only _he _got to see. Neji sighed inwardly, he was getting tired himself though, so he decided to oblige to her.

"Fine." Neji mummbled getting out of his fighting stance and going over to his bag to rehydrate. Hinata remained where she was, standing still and panting quietly. He turned to her and noticed she wasn't getting any water herself.

"Hinata-sama, what are you doing?" Neji asked. Hinata snapped out of whatever trance she was in and raced to his side.

"I'm sorry..Nii-san...I was just..thinking..." Hinata apologized. Neji cocked his head to the side.

'_Thinking? About what?' _He pondered to himself. His thought was interrupted by the weak tugging at his sleeve. _'What is it this time?!'_

"Umm Nii-san?" Hinata requested in her innocent tone of hers. "I forgot my canteen back at the compound."

"And?" Neji answered coldly.

"Can I have a sip of your water?". Neji grunted angerily, but still handed her the bottle, abit roughly. Hinata smiled, silently thanked him, and took a "sip" of water, which to Neji, looked more like a huge swallow. She finished it and handed it back to him.

"Sorry...I was thirsty.." Hinata giggled nervously. Neji refelected his displeasure and responded with,

"Stop apologizing Hinata-sama, thats a show of weakness!" Hinata's lower lip quivered, tears began to shine in her eyes.

"I'm..sorry..." She brought her head down as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Neji sighed again, and brought her head up, forcefully. He looked into her eyes, that were so identical to his, yet beamed with such beauty and joy, something Neji could never understand. He patted dry her eyes with a towel from his bag, and stroked her hair lovingly.

"It's okay..." He said trying to crack a smile. Obviously it wasn't very good because Hinata grimaced.

"Listen, I'm tired, and I bet you are too, so let's head back to the _Hyuuga Mansion_." Neji suggested.

"Hai!" Hinata smiled, following him out of the training grounds.

**

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**Another A/N: So since I simply love NejiHina I decided to throw it in here. Sorry if its not that great or they seem OOC, that was my first time writing something other than NaruSaku or ShikaIno. ^^;; **

**FYI: * = about 22.50 in US money.**


	3. Feelings Revealed

**Breathless - Chapter 3**

_I do not own Naruto. If I did Naruto would be with Sakura, Hinata with Neji, TenTen with Lee, Ino with Shikamaru......I'm done now.....^^;;_

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"Ready to go?" Sakura asked Naruto when he finished his up-teeth bowl of ramen.

"Yup!" He smiled, setting his chopsticks down, getting up, then helping the medical-nin up. "I have a suprise for you Sakura-chan, its back at my apartment..." Sakura looked frighten.

"You're not gonna try to get in my pants, are you?" Sakura asked the blonde. Naruto chuckled thinking it was a joke, but stopped when he realized she was serious.

"Of course not! Unless you wanted me to...." Naruto replied hoarsely. Sakura immediately blushed once more at the offer.

"Uhhh no....that's okay...let's just go..." She quickly ran out. Naruto smirked and ran after her.

* * *

Hinata and Neji were almost to the _'Hyuuga Mansion'. _Hinata wasn't paying attention to him or the trail ahead of them, she was looking up at the sky instead. Neji noticed this was the second time Hinata was lost in her own little world. _'What was going through her mind?' _He wondered. Just then he remembered what she told him the first time she fazed out....

_"I'm sorry..Nii-san...I was just..thinking..." _

"Hinata, what's been up with you lately?" Neji prompted. Hinata immediately fixed her attention to him when he dropped the suffix of her name.

"Whaa--AHHHH!!" Hinata's leg grazed a log, and she tripped, headfirst, into mud. The gooey, greyish substance was caked all over her. The heiress stuggled to get up, as she kept slipping, and falling back in. Neji sighed for the third time that day as he helped her up.

"Look at you...." He grumbled "You're a mess!" Neji took his shirt off to wipe the muck all over Hinata. She blushed a bright red from the close contact, as well as the sight of her cousin's exposed, toned chest.

"Tha..thank you..Neji..." Hinata smiled sweetly at him when he finished. Neji nodded and they continued to their destination.

_'That was such a...a...rush...' _Hinata thought to herself as she walked beside Neji. _'When Nii-san touched me....'_ She blushed again. Hinata thought she only felt that electricity, the nervousity, the butterflies in her stomach, when she was with Naruto, could it be she felt the same way for Neji?

* * *

"Here we are!" Naruto announced when they reached his apartment. He opened the door, and gestured a blind-folded Sakura inside.

"Ugh...Naruto can I take this off _now_?!" Sakura asked angerily. Naruto chuckled at Sakura, who clunged dearly to him, not wanting to trip, or stumble over anything..

"Not quite Sakura-chan! I need to get something..." He pulled out of Sakura's embrace and went into the next room. All that could be heard was the rustling of clothes, and the occasional cursing when Naruto tripped over something. He came back, and got behind Sakura to remove the blindfold. When she opened her eyes she saw that, not only was the apartment clean (well somewhat), but there was a huge banner hung up that said: Happy Friend-iversary! Sakura couldn't believe it, although to most it wasn't much, but to Sakura, it was everything, what Naruto did was so beautiful and meaningful, she was so happy, she could cry. Naruto must've sensed this because he said,

"No tears Sakura-chan! Not yet anyway." Naruto revealed behind his back a chestnut brown teddy bear. It was wearing a crimson red ribbon around its neck, and had small, round, black, beady eyes. Sakura gasped at the gift and held it in her arms. Although she wasn't much for gifts, especially a stuff animal, she couldn't help but accept it.

"It's.....adorable Nar--"

"That's not even the best part!" Naruto intercepted. "Pull the string in back!" Sakura obediently pulled the string.

"Happy Friend-iversary!" The bear giggled. Sakura smiled at the bear, then back at Naruto.

"I can't believe you remembered." Sakura whispered so low she was suprised Naruto heard her. "Thank you." But since she was wound up with other things going on, work, training, it had slipped her mind, and she had nothing to give him. Naruto was looking at her expectingly, she had to give him something, but what? So she gave him the best gift she could give anyone...she planted a kiss, directly, on his lips.

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A/N - Only one more chapter to go! ^_~


	4. A New Beginning

**Breathless - Chapter 4**

_I don't own anything..blah blah...blah blah..._

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"Sa..Sakura...-chan?" Naruto stumbled on her name, blushing a bright shade of red, Sakura sharing an identical blush. Sakura cupped his face with her hands, to look into his deep, blue eyes. This was it, she had been holding on to this confession for a long time now, and it was time to share it with him.

"Naruto, from the moment I met you, I thought you were an annoying, goofy, stupid--

"Where are you going with this?!" Naruto interrupted, in an offended tone. Sakura giggled.

"I have a point with this I swear! Anyway, when we were younger I always thought Sasuke was better than you, so I fell for him, but as time has passed, Naruto, I....I..you're better." She sighed deeply, relieved she got that off her chest after so long. Sakura was dissapointed, however, when Naruto looked confused.

"Sakura-chan, I don't understand....". Sakura moved her hands off his face and lowered it futhur down, resting them on his chest, sending chills down his spine.

"Naruto, I love you" Sakura explained. Naruto grinned.

"I love you too!" He answered. "I just can't believe it! You..you don't know how happy you've made me" Naruto sobbed holding her tightly, carressing her pink hair. Sakura nuzzled her face into his chest, arms around his waist, also crying lightly.

_Some time later....._

Sakura and Naruto were cuddling on the couch, watching a movie together, as a new couple. When suddenly, something hit them.

"Oh no! We left Kakashi at the training grounds!"

* * *

"Yes! I finished my second time reading this all the way through!" Kakashi shouted triumphly. "Okay we can resume training now!"

_Silence...._

"Naruto? Sakura?". His voice echoed through the empty woods. Kakashi was about to get up and leave, when he saw an exhausted Naruto and Sakura run up to him.

"Sorry...Ka..Kakashi-sensei..we...forgot..." Sakura panted, out of breath.

"Where were you two?!" Kakashi demanded, glaring between the both of them. Naruto chuckled softly, as he scratched the back of his head.

"Well...we kinda....got together..heh heh heh.". Naruto and Sakura both smiled at each other dreamily. Kakashi blinked.

"Well..umm...okay...I guess we'll continue this tomorrow then.." He replied, nervously. Kakshi waved goodbye to his students, then disappeared into the shadows.

"So Sakura-chan, wanna head back?" Naruto suggested.

"I'd like that." Sakura agreed. She gasped when Naruto's hand intertwined secretly into hers. Sakura smiled, being with him, was the greatest feeling in the world because Naruto could always leave her breathless. (A/N - Don't you just love it when they say the title, in the story?! XD)

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_(Present time)_

Neji sighed and closed the open window. It was getting late, the once mango colored sky now was a navy blue one, glittering stars covered every inch of it. He decided to retreat into his room for the rest of the night. Quickly slipping into his sleeping wear, he crawled into bed and "attempted" to fall asleep, but he couldn't. A certain female ninja kept popping into his mind, stealing his heart, corrupting his thoughts, eating him up inside.....Hinata...

Almost like faith was trying to bring them together, Hinata knocked on his door, not urgently, but wantingly.

"Nii-san?" She asked, candidly. "Are you still awake?"

"....Yes..". Neji got up slowly and opened the door, pulling her inside, winning him a cute squeak, and blush from the girl. When pulled in Hinata immediately stared at the ground.

"Well....Neji...I was..wondering..." Hinata began, playing with her fingers, blushing mildly. "If I could sleep with you? Not like that, I...I just couldn't get to sleep..." She explained. Neji smirked at her innocence, he now understood why he loved her so.

"I guess so." He replied. Hinata squealed, hugged him quickly, then settled into the bed. Neji rolled his eyes, as he climbed in after her.

"Goodnight, Neji."

"Goodnight, Hinata-sama."

_Some time later...._

Hinata was fast asleep, but Neji was having a harder time. He couldn't keep his eyes off her, how she quietly snored, how adorable she looked, even in her sleep. Everything about her could leave Neji breathless (There it is again! XD) and wanting more. He inched his face close to hers, making sure not to wake her up, and kissed her, gently, and quickly, on her forehead, and rolled over on his side. What he didn't know was that Hinata was wide awake, and faking it. She smiled inwardly and whispered to herself,

"I love you."

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Ugh finally its done! I've been wanting to finish this for so long! Please review, I love the feedback! And also check out my other stories! Bye guys!! :D


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